Improvement in apparatus for casting minie balls



f NITED STATES ing of Letters Patent therefor.

` l a sound casting.`

ATENT .Fi-ica `CHARLES R. TATHAM, on BROOKLYN, `new YORK.

` iMPRovE'MENTlIN APPARATUSVFOR CASTING MINI BALLS.

s per-.istante forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,334, dated May 20, isoa- `T0 @ZZ whomft may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES B. TATHAM,

a of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State Mini balls, or any balls which require a cavity `or recess in the centerof the base or rear end, and I dohereby declare that thefollowing is a full and exact descriptionof the same, whichV has been'prepared with a' view tothe obtain- In order to better explain` my invention, I deem it proper to` describe briefly a machine l or instrument commonly `used for casting theseV t, balls, `which has long t pieces of hard metal hinged together, each of which contains half `j of each of the chambers, which chambers are a series 'of cavities of the desired form and size l for the exteriorl of` the ball.` The hole in the 1 base of each ball is in such well-known instru- `ment or machine formed` by a metallic core or t, point attached towa movable cap, bywhich it l is held within the chamber -with the point downward. `Anopening is left at the side of each of these cores,through whichv the mold `is filled with melted ,metal. It isfound by l experience to be almost impossible by these means to make the hole exactly central in the base. This arises from the unequal expansion and contraction of the pieces which compose Y the mold and its `movable cap when in use.'

It is obvious that any difference in this respect between the cap and the mold must vary the position of the cores in the same proportion.

The obj ects of my invention are to insure the Vcentrality of the hole in the base and to insure Instead of suspending the cores within the chamber from a movable cap, I arrange them so that each isseparately held centrally in place within its chamber by the pieces which form the chamber. `Thus anyy variation of expansioncarriespthecores in `the same `directiomand they are always held in the same relative position in the center of the chamber.

Instead of casting myballs point downward, and filling` my molds `at the base of the ball through holes at the side of the cores, as usually practiced, I cast thempoint upward, and ll them from'that end under a considerable head oifsurplus metal, sothat the point of the ball is formed last, andthe head or pressure of the metal insures asolicl casting.

facilitate the removal of the balls from the molds, I arrange the cores so that they can be withdrawn at the bottom before the molds are opened.

I can cast my balls in machines or instruments adapted to produceeither one at a time or a large number at a single operation, the latter being preferable for economy. When several balls are to be cast simultaneously in the same machine, the cores are attached loosely to a bar, so as to allow of sufficient motion upon it toy correspond with -any'expans'ion of the mold beyond thatof the bar. l

Various ways of accomplishing the object will readily suggest themselves to any practical mechanic without departing from my invention, the chief feature of which consists in determining the position of each core in its chamber by the contact of the pieces which form such chamber.

rllhe better to enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the details thereof by the aid of the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon. p Figure l shows a cross-section of the machine or mold; and Fig. 2, a longitudinal section of a portion of the same, it being understood that the parts may be of any length desired, and hinged or otherwise connected in any ordinary manner. The balls may also be cast in two or more rows in the same machine with the same facility as the ordinary molds.

The drawings represent the mold as adapted to making a single series of balls.

A A represents the halves of the molds.

B is a movable lling-trough resting and capable of being moved upon A, and the bottom surface of which forms a knife-edge.

C O represent the cores in their places within the chambers,the bea-rings@ and seats a, which form the contact of the cores with the halves A A, being coned, as represented. Ihe portion that enters the chamber may be conical, as shown by the black lines, or may have any other form, as shown by the red lines.

D represents the bar, by which the entire series of cores are withdrawn from or replaced within the mold at a single operation, the button or lower portion of each core being so held therein that the core kmay move horizontally to a small extent independently of the bar. After the melted metal has been lpoured into the mold so as to ll the chambers, and also the illing-trough B, and has become set, the iilling-trough B is moved laterally or longitudinally by any suitable means, and thereby all the surplus metal is cnt off and may be returned to the melting-pot. The cores C are then withdrawn by depressing D by means of au eccentric or any other motion, after which `the halves A A areseparated, and the balls fall upon a suitable receiver, made of soft material to avoid bruising,` or indenting,` them. The parts of the machine are then again applied together, as before, and the operation of pouring` into B is repeated.

I do not limit myself to the precise form of the parts, or to the combination of all the l'eatures of my invention; but,

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

l. 'Ihe means, substantially as herein described, of forming` the hole in the base of the ball by a core, held in its place within the chamber by its contact with the piece or pieces which form the same, so that any expansion or motion of the mold will carry the cores l therewith and maintain their central position within the chambers.

as herein described, of preserving the centrality ofthe cores under movements or vary ing expansion of the parts of the mold, removinga number of such cores and returning` them to their places ata single operation by the means substantially as herein described.

3. In combination with means, substantially as herein described, of preserving the eentrality of the cores, and with means, substanti ally as herein described, of removing and returning to their places a number of such cores, the use of chambers so located and arranged as to be filled through the points thereof, and to allow the metal to set under a head with the points of the balls directed upward, for the purpose of simplifying the construction of the apparatus, and of increasing the solidity ofthe balls.

CHAS. B. TATHAM.

Witnesses:

THOMAS D. Srn'rsox, D. XV. S'rnTsoN.

2. In combination with means, substantially 

